Sylvia Plath's Radical Reinvention in the Early 1960s
Too often remembered as a tragic icon or a victim of domestic constraints, Sylvia Plath embarked on a profound personal and artistic transformation at the dawn of the 1960s. A forthcoming complete edition of her poems will illuminate this period, showcasing how she remade herself and her work with remarkable vigor and clarity.
Domestic Mastery and Creative Ambition
In February 1962, Plath visited her neighbor in Devon, Rose Key, bearing a plate of Black Walnut-flavored cupcakes made from a Betty Crocker mix. This gesture was emblematic of her complex relationship with domesticity. She excelled at baking and household tasks, yet she approached them with a mix of efficiency and scorn, particularly disdainful of processed foods and British culinary habits.
During this time, shortly after giving birth to her second child, Plath's life was a whirlwind of activity. She was not only crafting elaborate six-egg sponges but also taking language lessons in Italian, German, and French. She wrote an experimental poem for the BBC Third Programme, sourced rugs for her new home, had floors cemented to avoid dirt, and expressed interest in woodwork classes. In a letter to her former psychiatrist, Ruth Barnhouse Beuscher, in October 1962, she reflected, "My trouble is that I can do an awful lot of stuff well."
The Split Between Life and Art
Plath's domestic embrace was paralleled by her sharp critique in works like The Bell Jar, written in a swift eight-week period in 1961. She confessed to poet Ruth Fainlight in October 1962, "When I was 'happy' domestically I felt a gag down my throat." Yet, that same month, she was hand-painting labels for twelve pots of honey from her first beekeeping summer, demonstrating her practical resourcefulness.
This duality places Plath at a crossroads between decades. In early October 1962, she rapidly composed the "bee sequence" of poems, a triumphant conclusion to the Ariel manuscript. This period coincided with the premiere of the first James Bond film and the release of the Beatles' first single, marking what social historian David Kynaston identifies as the start of the "real" Sixties.
Embracing the New Decade
The 1950s lingered in Plath's life through Beethoven records and precise RP accents in BBC broadcasts, but the 1960s were poised to transform Britain. Amid societal shifts, with abortion illegal and the pill restricted, Plath channeled her experiences into scathing satires like The Applicant and the subversive Lady Lazarus. She wrote to Beuscher, "Every thing I read about, hear, see, experience or have experienced is on tap, like a wonderful drink. I can use everything."
Her clarity of purpose was evident: "I want my career, my children and a free supple life." She meticulously edited her poems, hardening the language to control and manipulate experience, distancing herself from the confessionalist label promoted by Al Alvarez's The New Poetry anthology.
London Revival and Challenges
By November 1962, Plath enjoyed a shopping spree in Exeter, got a fashionable haircut, and felt buoyant about returning to London. She wrote to her mother, "Living apart from Ted is wonderful. My babies & my writing are my life." In Primrose Hill, she embraced a 1960s aesthetic with straw Hong Kong chairs and rush matting, enrolled in language classes, and planned to host an American poetry evening at the Royal Court.
However, the harsh winter brought difficulties. Expected literary salons failed to materialize, and home improvements stalled. By December, she listed unfinished tasks: painting floors and bureaus. Illness and frozen pipes added to her struggles, yet she continued writing, noting in a February 1963 letter to Beuscher, "Poems very good, but, I feel written on the edge of madness."
Legacy and New Publications
When Ted Hughes edited Plath's Ariel manuscript for its 1965 publication, he altered its triumphant conclusion, blending her poetic persona with biographical elements. This obscured her intended legacy of control and manipulation. Ariel: The Restored Edition was published 22 years ago, and in May, Faber will release The Poems of Sylvia Plath, a complete edition that nearly doubles the content of the 1981 Collected Poems.
This new collection highlights the acceleration of Plath's work from 1959, including the distinct Ariel poems and later works like Totem and Balloons, which point to her pioneering direction. Despite self-doubt, Plath gained confidence during her October 1962 creative surge, believing in the lasting power of writing. As she wrote in her journal at age 26, "Writing is a religious act... it goes about on its own in the world."
